Bragg, Melvyn

Melvyn Bragg, now Lord Bragg of Wigton, was born in Wigton in 1939, and studied modern history at Wadham College, Oxford. He entered the media world through a BBC traineeship in 1961, taking over the editorship of BBC2's first arts programme, New Release, three years later. He is best known as the presenter of arts programs on television, especially 'The South Bank Show', in which he has made a sustained effort to present literature to a wide public in a popular and informal manner. Over nearly four decades of pioneering broadcasting he has edited, produced and presented a wealth of award-winning documentaries and programmes across the cultural spectrum. He is a prodigious author, publishing more than a dozen books, including 'For Want of a Nail' in 1965, and 'The Soldiers Return' in 1999. He has also written a play, two musicals and several screenplays.